1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to security apparatus and more particularly, to a locking apparatus for discouraging the theft of tape cassette players wherever they may be located including in-dashboard mounting in a vehicle such as an automobile, truck, boat, motorcycle, snow mobile, mobile home and the like.
2. Prior Art
The present invention is designed to prevent or at least discourage the theft of tape cassette players by means of a locking mechanism which is designed to be inserted into the cassette compartment of a cassette player whereby the removal of the mechanism cannot be affected without damage to the player unless the mechanism is unlocked prior to its removal.
Applicant knows of only two relevant prior art patents. These are U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,031 to Alley and U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,069 to Burbank. The Alley patent discloses an apparatus for preventing the theft of portable articles from the interior of an automobile but utilizes a flexible elongated cable which has an adjustably sized loop at one end for encircling the steering column and means at the other end of the cable for engaging the portable article. The Burbank patent discloses an apparatus for preventing theft of an in-dashboard mounted radio which includes a backplate which can be mounted across the face of the dashboard by means of the same threaded mounting shaft which is employed for mounting the radio. The backplate is mounted to a cover by means of hinges. The cover can be closed and locked to prevent access to the radio or opened and unhinged if desired to provide encumbered access to the radio. Neither of the aforementioned prior art patents nor any other prior art known to the applicant, discloses the general concept of a locking mechanism that is designed to be inserted into the cassette compartment of a cassette player to discourage theft thereof. More specifically, the theft is prevented by discouraging the potential thief as a result of the inherent difficulty or impossibility of removing the mechanism from the cassette player without damaging the player unless the locking mechanism is properly unlocked prior to the removal.